The Mets exclusive window to negotiate with Reyes expires on Thursday, November 3, or five days after the end of the World Series, after which he is free to talk to other teams.

“Jose is not going to be a quick process,” a source told Martino. ‘The fan base would love for it to be that way, but a quick process would mean that he will not be a Met. Let him go do the dance, and see how (other teams) value him. Why should we set the market?”

[line]

Matthew Cerrone: I initially heard Sandy Alderson had no intention of waiting around to get in to a bidding a war. He doesn’t have the dollars, time or to-do list to sit idle. His team has A LOT of holes and a limited budget, and so knowing how that money will be used is important. From what I’ve heard, he has two plans: one with Reyes (in which the payroll will be one number) and without Jose (in which the payroll will be something else). However, Martino’s report would imply a different strategy.

So far, people have mentioned to me the Phillies, Giants, Marlins, Nationals, Angels, Brewers and obviously the Mets (as teams who could end up signing Reyes). The Mets want him back and he wants to be back with the Mets. However, at the same time, while Jose loves New York and the team’s fans and he wants to stay with the Mets, he has concerns about the direction of the franchise (and he’ll want to hear from Sandy on what his plans are to get this team back to winning).